In an institutional room in California, the aptly named Luz ("light") tries to make sense of the trauma and tragedy that has befallen her family. She has only a journal, the presumed attention of You, the God or higher power she addresses, and a deck of Lotería cards.

In "Lotería: A Novel," debut novelist Mario Alberto Zambrano makes the cards, used in a Mexican game as the visual counterpart of the numbers in bingo, serve as writing prompts. They're not instruments of divination like tarot cards, but, like the tarot deck, the simple, traditional design of the Lotería cards gives them a touch of the archetypal. (Large images of the cards begin each of his novel's short chapters.) | July 26, 2013»Read Full Article

Al Jazeera America, the first all news cable network since Fox News Channel debuted in 1996, begins broadcasting at 2 p.m. Tuesday. But shortly before its debut AT&T U-verse announced it would not carry the channel in a contract dispute, according to The Wrap.

It is also not carried by Time Warner Cable. It will be carried by DirecTV (Channel 358) and DISH (Channel 215). It will be in less half as many TV homes as CNN and Fox. | Aug. 20, 2013»Read Full Blog Post(104)